Quote:
Originally Posted by Clipdat
Do they have a right to ask you to pop your hood like that, or could you have politely declined?
Seems strange that he just demanded you pop the hood. What the hell?
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See, here's the thing. Having you pop the hood or trunk or open the car up in anyway for them to search typically requires probable cause. You're perfectly within your right to refuse.
In most cases, if it's a routine traffic stop, like he was speeding or ran a red light, they don't have the probable cause to search your car. They are trained to ask anyway, and nine times out of 10 people will consent to a search. Not knowing that they have the right to say no. This is how a lot of drug or weapons busts happen, when the cop initiates a stop on a simple traffic violation and it escalates into a full car search.
Here's where the water gets muddy. If you say no, I don't consent to a search because you don't have probable cause. That sets off a red flag in the police officers mind. He will continue to detain you and keep asking more questions. What are you hiding? Why do you appear nervous? He will start looking more closely at the situation to try and find probable cause. In this particular instance, since the driver was pulled over for a loud exhaust, he could rationalize that the sound of the car was probable cause to believe that the car has other illegal modifications under the hood. Regardless, that refusal simply gives the cops a reason to hassle and inconvenience you even more. And for that reason, a lot of people just go ahead and consent. Especially if you know absolutely that there is nothing to hide or be concerned about, then it may actually make sense to go ahead and consent so that you get this ordeal over with and can go about your business. But if you definitely have something to hide or don't want them to search then don't be stupid, just say no.
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